Welcome to the Coastal Rainforest Research, Wildlife Conservation & Community Projects blog, where you can keep up to date with all the projects and information from GVI in Costa Rica

Global Vision International (GVI) is a non-political, non-religious organisation, which through its alliance with over 150 project partners in over 30 countries, provides opportunities for volunteers to fill a critical void in the fields of environmental research, conservation, education and community development.

Facts and Figures Quepos Community Project

Ongoing education support to over 330 primary school students within 2 local schools (2011-2012)

227,400 hours of Primary School students hours taught (2011-2012)

Over 1700 hours of English classes taught to adults and secondary school students (2011-2012)

Volunteer led English lessons with the 5 best students in each grade within the structure of El Cocal Primary School and Maria Luisa Primary School in Boca Vieja.

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Boat-billed Herons, Lineated Woodpeckers, Parachuting Red-Eyed Tree Frogs and Purple Gallinules. 2012 is kicking off with a lot of exciting things that would have sounded totally foreign and bizarre to the volunteers just a couple weeks ago. Nevertheless, people have not only already gotten accustomed to the rustic living/heat/humidty/insects but have made it through all of the first aid training and eagerly embraced the surveys that started this week. Already, all the volunteers have participated in various surveys including our Biological Assessments in the jungle, canal bird surveys, and jaguar track surveys on the beach, not to mention general duties such as trail clearing and building a covered outdoor structure to enjoy the open air at night. Tomorrow, the first group of the phase will take part in the first Jag Walk, walking 15 miles on the beach to the town of Tortuguero, collecting data on Jaguar activity. So far we have been largely problem-free which is quite nice! And needless to say, people have been very excited about the work so it's looking like it'll be an especially productive phase.

Some exciting things that have happened recently have included the arrival of a new diesel generator which has been much more reliable and fuel-efficient than the previous machine and the arrival of a car battery which enables us to carry out moth surveys in the forest where the types of moths we're looking for reside, instead of being limited to the length of our extension cord. Also, it was decided to attempt a bird survey on Sierpe Viejo this morning, a canal that has been utterly impassible due to reeds blanketing the water's surface. To everyone's surprise, the attempt was successful, and another blog will be posted shortly about their adventure this morning. Aside from that, we have an opossum attempting to call our kitchen and staff house it's home, and an Eyelash Viper that did call the quad-bike shed home for an unknown amount of time! Both have been dealt with properly fortunately!

A group of volunteers on a BAS survey

Additionally, preparations are underway for some environmental education classes in the elementary school of Parismina, a small town on the way to Jalova. 70+ students will participate in group activities relating to relevant environmental studies such as jungle animals, marine life, food chains, etc. The hope is to have monthly classes starting in February, and we're all excited to start reaching out to the community like we've been wanting to. Along the lines of community outreach, we also have completed our first bilingual newsletter called La Voz de la Selva (The Voice of the Forest) and are in the process of distributing them throughout the area.

Like normal, we have quite a diverse group of people on base at the moment. There are people from the US, Australia, Canada, the UK, and like usual a great deal of cultural exchange is happening. We have people putting sugar and lemon on their pancakes that have only ever considered using maple syrup! We're talking about major breakthroughs here!! Regardless of their origin, everyone is quite pleased with the nice weather we've had lately. Most days have been beautiful and sunny, a welcome change from the end of last phase which was very wet indeed. We never know what the near future will hold while living in the jungle but thus far it seems as though we have a strong start to the phase and promising things to come! Stay tuned!

quotes from the field...

"The work carried out by GVI Costa Rica makes a vital contribution to conservation and scientific research and personally speaking, I am proud to be able to say that I played a part in this project."
Michelle Miller, 10 Week Volunteer

"Having a truly incredible time here at Caño Palma. Every day here is amazing and brings exciting new things to see and do."

"The location is brilliant, the people are great and the wildlife is fantastic. So far I’ve seen green turtles, two-toed and three-toed sloths, coral snakes, a vine snake, green iguanas, basilisk lizards, a Neotropical river otter, caiman, crocodiles, strawberry poison-dart frogs, howler monkeys, spider monkeys and white-faced capuchin monkeys to name just a few!"

"I also see loads of beautiful birds every day, including the two stunning species of toucan found here."

"I’m enjoying everything we do here but some of my favourite things so far have been the grueling 15 mile Jag Walk, climbing the rainforest-clad Cerro (hill), and of course the ever exciting turtle night walks."

"Getting to count a turtle’s eggs whilst she lays them is a real privilege, which I’ve been fortunate to experience twice so far. Measuring a turtle, helping tag and doing the body check are also great to do, even if you do get covered in sand and occasionally whacked by a flipper!"

"Walking through the rainforest and traveling along the canals are other things I love doing here, as the scenery is wonderful and you always see some really interesting things."

I can’t really think of anything bad to say about this place, even the frequent rainstorms, the humidity, the early mornings and being woken by screaming howler monkeys just adds to the experience, and it’s certainly worth being filthy and covered in various insect bites to be here.

I can’t wait to see what other amazing experiences 5 more weeks in Costa Rica will bring." Alex Page from the UK, Expedition Member from July-September 2008

“I was impressed with the level of professionalism of the GVI staff, who were helpful, enthusiastic and clearly passionate about the work they do here at Jalova. I have had a wonderful time and feel inspired to use the knowledge I have learnt in the classroom. Thank you very much." Mrs Ali Omell, Turtle Project Volunteer